RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Dominion Virginia Power is prepared to respond to heavy snowfall and high winds forecasted to move through its Virginia and North Carolina service area beginning Friday. Additional crews are being sent to the areas expected to be most affected, trucks are stocked and fueled, and preparations are being made to activate the company's three regional storm response centers and corporate emergency center to support outage restoration.

Customers can report and check the status of power outages using the company's website at www.dom.com via computer, smartphone or other mobile device. Customers can also call 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357) to report outages or downed wires. Stay away from fallen wires and debris, and treat all fallen wires and anything touching them as though they are energized.

The company will update its interactive outage map at www.dom.com with information about the storm as it becomes available. A Twitter feed www.twitter.com/DomVAPower, Facebook page www.facebook.com/dominionvirginiapower, and Dominion text alerts at 898366 also are available.

Dominion urges its 2.5 million electric customers to pay attention to weather reports and to take these common-sense steps to prepare for possible outages and stay safe:

• Make sure you have a battery-operated radio, multiple flashlights, a battery-operated clock, and extra batteries.
• Turn off and unplug any non-essential electrical equipment in your home.
• Post a list of contents on your freezer door to minimize the number of times you open it.
• Make sure all prescription medications are filled.
• Have a full tank of gas in your car.
• If you have pets, please make sure you have provided for them as well.

Video b-roll is available to download at: https://news.dominionenergy.com/multimedia

Dominion Virginia Power is a subsidiary of Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation's largest producers and transporters of energy with operations in 14 states. Dominion has a portfolio of approximately 24,400 megawatts of generation and 6,490 miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 928 billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves utility and retail energy customers in 14 states. For more information about Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.

SOURCE Dominion Virginia Power